The subject of this patent application relates generally to firearms, and more particularly to apparatuses and methods configured for selectively fixing the magazine of a firearm that could otherwise be characterized as an assault weapon.
The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Applicant(s) hereby incorporate herein by reference any and all patents and published patent applications cited or referred to in this application, to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
By way of background, the current law in at least five U.S. states bans the sale of assault weapons that have a removable magazine or ammunition feeding device (i.e., rifles such as the “AR15” or “AR10” that do not have a “fixed magazine”). In California under Assembly Bill 1135 and Senate Bill 880, a “fixed magazine” is now defined as “an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action.” Such legislation, which went into effect in the relevant jurisdictions on Jan. 1, 2017, was essentially aimed at closing the “bullet button” loop hole by now categorizing “bullet button” removable magazine firearms as assault weapons.
The law has long been that certain rifles with detachable magazines and other such features were classified as assault weapons under California and other state law. In response, gun owners and manufacturers sought various ways to obtain certain styles of rifles similar to those determined to be assault weapons or to effectively retrofit such weapons to take them out of the definition of an “assault weapon,” such as by rendering the magazine “fixed” rather than removable. One of the most common modifications up to 2016 had been the use of a part known as a “bullet button,” which modifies a rifle so that the magazine is not removable without the use of a tool (a bullet being deemed a “tool” under the law, hence the term “bullet button tool”).
Then, starting in 2017 the law again changed to prohibit the “bullet button” as by defining an “assault weapon,” and a “fixed magazine” specifically, in such a way that a semi-automatic rifle must be “disassembled” before the magazine can be removed. Since this law was first proposed in April 2016, a number of products have entered the market to address this issue. A few attach to the magazine release button and touch the upper receiver so that the upper and lower receiver must be opened for the button to work (i.e., the firearm is rendered “disassembled,” at least to the extent that it cannot be fired (the “firearm action” is disabled). Others have pins that need to be machined into the firearm to fix the magazine release button. One example of a prior art approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,756,845 to Harris et al. entitled “Method and Device for Converting Firearm with Detachable Magazine to a Firearm with Fixed Magazine,” which requires removal and replacement of the factory installed magazine release button assembly, including both the magazine release button and the factory installed magazine catch bar, such components being replaced with a modified magazine catch bar and an integral upper tension bar. Other approaches such as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2018/0017347 to Chang and entitled “Tool and Method for Modifying a Magazine Lock” involve installation or formation of a magazine locking pin within a related aperture in the lower receiver, and a related jig, so as to render the magazine release button inoperable when the upper receiver is next to the lower receiver and the magazine locking pin is engaged with a locking catch formed in the magazine release button, thus again requiring modification of both the magazine release button assembly and here of the lower receiver itself. In still further approaches, such as in the “Hellfighter CA Mod Kit” recently introduced by Juggernaut Tactical, though after the introduction of the present invention, rather than modifying the magazine release button assembly, the bolt catch is removed and replaced with a component configured to selectively contact the upper and lower receivers, and specifically the magazine release bar, so as to prevent actuation of the magazine release button and release of the magazine until the upper receiver is shifted away from the lower receiver so as to disassemble or break the action of the firearm, though in this approach the firearm is undesirably rendered as having no bolt catch. As such, there remains a need in the art for a more convenient and effective manner for selectively fixing the magazine of a firearm or locking the magazine release button assembly or preventing its actuation until the firearm is “disassembled” or rendered inoperable.
Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary.